The president of COMURES did not want to comment on the reduction of the Fodes, but other mayors regret that their own income is very little to continue running social programs.
In the face of President Nayib Bukele’s announcement to lower the Municipal Economic and Social Development Fund (Fodes), mayors are concerned, especially those who govern small municipalities that do not have enough income to invest in social programs to to their communities.
One of them is the mayor of Mexicans, Simó Pau, of the FMLN, who explained in the Channel 19 news that due to the pandemic many small companies have had to close, because they failed to survive in the onslaught of the socio-economic effects generated by COVID -19.
SEE: Reduction of the Fucks is a fiscal adjustment of Government at the expense of the works for the municipalities, says analyst
The decrease in the Fodes will no longer allow them to continue investing in social programs and less so when they will have a significant reduction in municipal fees for business closures.
“It will definitely be a setback. The Fucks are not only infrastructure works, but the Fucks Act empowers municipal governments to invest in social programs, but this also comes to collapse our economic situation,” he said. Pau.
According to him, in the municipality that governs, which is Mexicans, they have had closures of small businesses that have also left dozens of people unemployed due to the pandemic and that their municipality subsists on the taxes paid by taxpayers, as it is an industrialized city.
“Companies are few, this makes their own income limited. The Fodes, we are clear about the utility, the law stipulates how we should use it and we have been using it in accordance with the law,” Paul explained.
For his part, the mayor of Ayutuxtepeque, Alejandro Nóchez, the only municipality in San Salvador that won ARENA, urged Bukele to maintain the decentralization of mayors and that the implementation of the new transfer mechanism of the ‘Fucks for mayors become effective until 2022.
“I call for this not to be from this year, but from 2022, although it is true that we have been working with an approved budget since last year and we are already working. The reform could be approved. if this year, but apply until 2022, I always appeal to the decentralization that must continue and strengthen it, “said Nóchez.
SEE ALSO: Bukele cuts FODES and concentrates funds on a new municipal autonomous
The economic analyst, Rafael Lemus, explained that the government has overlooked another important point, as leaving the mayors the administration of 25% nothing more than the Fodes, leaves them powerless comply with their commitments to pay credits that have been acquired with the guarantee of the municipal fund, one of them is the Debt Restructuring Trust of the Municipalities (Fidemuni).